Motorcycle crash kills man

A 21-year-old Beech Mountain man was killed when he struck a guardrail while riding his motorcycle on Wilson Ridge Road Saturday afternoon.

Charles Melton Flanagan III died when he lost control of his 2006 Suzuki motorcycle after cresting the hill on Wilson Ridge, as he headed from Deerfield Road toward Bamboo Road.

A N.C. Highway Patrol spokesman said the crash, which was reported at 3:55 p.m., likely was caused by excessive speed.

“We estimate he was doing about 75 miles an hour when he hit the end of the guard rail,” Sgt. Victor Misenheimer of the N.C. Highway Patrol said Monday morning.

Misenheimer said Flanagan was wearing a helmet, but the speed at which he struck the guardrail rendered the helmet ineffective.

“You hit a stationary object at that speed and a helmet isn’t going to do you much good,” he said.

 — Jerry Sena, staff writer